Lesson 1: “What do you think evolution is?”/History of Evolution
Overview: In this lesson I will provide students with the basics of what evolution is and who the prominent historical figures were that had an impact on the theory. I will open with a discussion of what the students’ preconceived notions are about evolution. Next I will transition into a structured group note taking session about Darwin and Lamarck. The class closing will be working on a worksheet that should be able to be completed based on the notes that the students took in class.
Objectives: Students will be able to: - Explain who Darwin is and why he is important - Explain who Lamarck is and why he is important - Construct and complete a “Main Idea and Details” graphic organizer to obtain the notes about the basic principles of evolution in the chapter. - Construct and complete a “Box and T” graphic organizer - Compare and contrast Darwin and Lamarck
- Create and compose their own closing worksheet based on the notes they took (Above verbs taken from the Bloom's Taxonomy link)
The first two of these objectives are fine because they describe behaviors that indicate (low) cognitive function. The last three objectives are just statements of what Ss will do, not what they will be able to do cognitively. You should look up Blooms taxonomy on this site to rewrite the last three objective.
Opening:
To open up the evolution unit I will pose a few questions:
“What do you think evolution is?”
"Are we evolving right now? Why or Why not?"
"Is evolution going on in our world today? If yes, where do we see it?"
These questions will be up on the board when the students walk in and will be used as an entrance slip. Students will be given about 10 minutes to write their responses. We will discuss the students responses and they will have the opportunity to come up to the front of the class and write their ideas in a corner of the white board The students' responses will remain in the corner of the board for the remainder of the unit.
What "poster board?" Students will probably not engage in answering this question for 10 minutes. Do you think that this question is enough to activate their interest in the topic and their prior knowledge? You should include a bulleted list of the questions and statements you will use to launch your lesson.
Body:
Me: "Today we will be working with 2 graphic organizers as we learn about two primary figures in evolutionary history; Darwin & Lamarck."
Display an example of the "Box and T" graphic organizer on the overhead projector
Students: Copy the template for the "Box and T" graphic organizer into their notebooks.
Students: Using the Prentice Hall Biology Textbook (I will pass them out to the groups. The textbooks remain in the classroom to be used throughout the day) and the "Box and T" chart the students should compare and contrast the two theories
Me: As students are working I will be going around from group to group asking the following questions:
Do both Darwin and Lamarck think that species change over time?
Who thinks that beneficial traits pass on to new offspring?
What are some ways that Darwin and Lamarck think evolution is similar?
What are some ways that Darwin and Lamarck differ in their views?
Me: As I am walking around the room conversing with students I will randomly select a few students from different groups to write one of their facts on the overhead projector "Box and T"
As a class we will then discuss the students analysis of Darwin and Lamarck.
Me: I will now replace the "Box and T" graphic organizer with an example of another type of graphic organizer. This is simply a form of 2 column notes that will divide the chapter up into "Main ideas & Details"
Students: Copy the template down in their notebooks for the "Main Ideas & Detalis" graphic organizer. Together in their groups students will work through the chapter to get the main ideas and the details about evolution.
Me: I will be walking around the room answering any questions and monitoring productivity of the groups.
Please write this section as bullet points that convey what you and students will do.
For example:
Display "Box and T" graphic organizer on overhead Explain purpose of organizer. Have students work in groups to complete organizer using p. YYY of textbook in their notebooks. (do students normally bring their texts?)
Walk around to groups. Ask the following questions:
Question 1
Question 2...
What will you say to introduce the activity?
Why would they be interested in comparing Lamarck's and Darwin's theories?
Could you give them a hypothetical situation that would have them voice a Lamarkian view of evolution and build off of that?
Just because they are "honors students," that doesn't mean that you need to do less to provide an interesting context for the topic.
Closing:
To close the lesson:
Students: In pairs students will create and compose a worksheet using everything that they learned today in class. (One set of questions, but two copies) Once the worksheets are completed each pair will trade with another pair at their table. Students will be asked to complete the worksheet for homework and hand it in the next day.
The worksheet activity seems to be filler. Students will not care about "checking to see how effect their notetaking skillls on the topic" are. Worksheets that come with textbooks are notoriously bad. Are you sure this one emphasizes the ideas about Darwin/Lamarck that you think are difficult to understand?
Why not engage them in a conversation about Darwin and Lamarck. What do they think survival of the fittest means? Can the increase their own "fitness?" What questions can you ask to diagnose their understandings.
Please rewrite this lesson based on my feedback, and let me know when I can recheck it. Once you've rewritten this lesson
Overview:
In this lesson I will provide students with the basics of what evolution is and who the prominent historical figures were that had an impact on the theory. I will open with a discussion of what the students’ preconceived notions are about evolution. Next I will transition into a structured group note taking session about Darwin and Lamarck. The class closing will be working on a worksheet that should be able to be completed based on the notes that the students took in class.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Explain who Darwin is and why he is important
- Explain who Lamarck is and why he is important
- Construct and complete a “Main Idea and Details” graphic organizer to obtain the notes about the basic principles of evolution in the chapter.
- Construct and complete a “Box and T” graphic organizer
- Compare and contrast Darwin and Lamarck
- Create and compose their own closing worksheet based on the notes they took
(Above verbs taken from the Bloom's Taxonomy link)
The first two of these objectives are fine because they describe behaviors that indicate (low) cognitive function. The last three objectives are just statements of what Ss will do, not what they will be able to do cognitively. You should look up Blooms taxonomy on this site to rewrite the last three objective.
Opening:
What "poster board?" Students will probably not engage in answering this question for 10 minutes. Do you think that this question is enough to activate their interest in the topic and their prior knowledge? You should include a bulleted list of the questions and statements you will use to launch your lesson.
Body:
Closing:
To close the lesson:
The worksheet activity seems to be filler. Students will not care about "checking to see how effect their notetaking skillls on the topic" are. Worksheets that come with textbooks are notoriously bad. Are you sure this one emphasizes the ideas about Darwin/Lamarck that you think are difficult to understand?
Why not engage them in a conversation about Darwin and Lamarck. What do they think survival of the fittest means? Can the increase their own "fitness?" What questions can you ask to diagnose their understandings.
Please rewrite this lesson based on my feedback, and let me know when I can recheck it. Once you've rewritten this lesson
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